How fair is free speech?
Sukumar Muralidharan-
REUTERS Dark tones: The sorry state of minority assimilation in France has come under spotlight after the Charlie Hebdo killings in January 2015 -
BUSINESS LINE Sukumar Muralidharan
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France's deep-rooted racism and intolerance mocks its defence of the right to expression
Few minds were changed in the furious debate that followed the Charlie Hebdo murders in Paris in January, with protagonists sticking to well-rehearsed scripts on free speech and its legitimate boundaries.
The heat of that debate had barely subsided when a fresh round of contention broke out over a decision by the American unit of the global literary association PEN, to honour Charlie with a free speech award. Much recrimination followed as a substantial group of literary eminences chose to walk out of the awards ceremony and others stepped up to replace them.
The arena was soon invaded by outright bigotry. A far right organisation in the US, appropriately described as a 'hate group' by anti-racism campaigners, assembled an event in a small town in Texas with the object of caricaturing the prophet of Islam. Two armed men, reportedly locals with known criminal records, attempted to storm the event but were shot dead. Another round of acrimony ensued, with free speech zealots attacking the suggestion that the hate fest organisers should have exercised restraint.
In some embarrassment, Charlie's defenders distanced themselves from the Texas event. Of the 523 covers that Charlie published in the 10 years since 2005, only seven chose to ridicule Islam, claimed the defence. It was satire's fate to often be construed as hate speech. But as PEN America president Andrew Solomon and executive director Suzanne Nossel put it, Charlie's valour lay in 'their dauntless fortitude patrolling the outer precincts of free speech'. For another writer, all comparison between Charlie and the Texas event was misplaced since it fudged the 'distinction between hate and critique.' Even if Charlie's methods were not 'always admirable or appropriate', its approach was avowedly secular. Secularism was not 'state atheism, but rather, an impartial, detached policy that permits the coexistence of multiple faith groups and cultures under an egalitarian structure.'
As official policy, secularism or laïcité, dates from a 1905 French law on the separation of church and state, which disestablished the Catholic faith, turning over church properties to the state. In its implementation, the 1905 law was always negotiated with the Vatican and tempered by judicial interpretation. Over time, its rigour abated considerably. The January memorial for the Charlie victims at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris was perhaps best evidence of the new compact between church and state.
Laïcité prohibits official funding of any religious order, but the French state supports an estimated 39,000 churches. In contrast, of about 2,500 places of Muslim worship, constructed mostly after the mass arrival of immigrants since the 1960s, not one enjoys any form of state support.
Evidently, observant Catholics acclimatise better in the French environment of secularism. And discrimination is an unseen reality, often denied. A 1972 anti-discrimination law asserted the singularity of French culture and the unique opportunities it afforded to all, irrespective of identity. Yet it provided no civil remedies and virtually disallowed 'civil parties' from bringing litigation on behalf of aggrieved individuals, reflecting an old French superstition that any form of intermediary loyalty between the citizen and the state would be corrosive of the republican values.
Minority assimilation remained patchy. In 2007, a reporter with Time spoke of a 'bigoted chorus' and 'growing racist chatter in the French mainstream.' In 2012, an official advisory body reported a 23 per cent rise in racist acts, with the vaunted 1972 law being by and large, ineffective. The official response was another astounding retreat into the delusional cocoon. In 2013, the French government outlawed the use of the term 'race' in all relevant articles of the penal code, or alternately, its replacement by the term 'ethnic'.
French census enumerations ceased gathering information about race and religion ever since colour-blindness became official policy. But in 2004 it was reported that the preceding decade had witnessed a dramatic change in the composition of the country's prison population. Though only about 10 per cent of the population, Muslims were close to 70 per cent of prison inmates in France. The prison system, presumably because of the unique seductions of the French secular pretence, was yet to adapt to this shift. There was for instance, an obdurate refusal to employ Muslim clerics to counsel prison inmates, because 'inadequate screening could unleash potential militants into the system.'
Though uneasily aware of the troubling background, PEN America chose to honour Charlie, since as Solomon and Nossel put it: 'The distressing absence of broad respect toward Muslims in France does not undercut Charlie Hebdo's bravery in defending the right to be disrespectful'.
Early-April, just ahead of the PEN decision, Garry Trudeau, the legendary creator of the Doonesbury satire, chose a ceremony honouring his lifetime work, to sum up the moral dilemmas involved. "Traditionally," he said, "satire has comforted the afflicted while afflicting the comfortable."
By its very nature 'satire punches up, against authority of all kinds.' To ridicule those at the bottom of the social heap 'is almost never funny — it is just mean'. In punching down and 'attacking a powerless, disenfranchised minority with crude, vulgar drawings closer to graffiti than cartoons, Charlie wandered into the realm of hate speech. And despite all claims made on its behalf, it was an unavoidable conclusion that the 'French tradition of free speech is too full of contradictions to fully embrace'.
Clearly, the free speech zealots have to worry that the cause is not hijacked by culture warriors creating new fissures.
Sukumar Muralidharan is a fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study in Shimla
(This article was published on May 22, 2015)
Better coordination needed to bring to book suspect businesses, Rajan tells States
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RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan
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Governance structure of co-operative banks needs to improve, says RBI Governor
Mumbai, May 26:
There is a need to make the State-Level Coordination Committees (SLCCs) more active and effective even though the progress made by them in the conduct of quarterly meetings have been satisfactory, according to the RBI.
"Gathering market intelligence through better coordination among various regulators and initiating quick follow-up action was an important element in bringing to book entities indulging in unauthorised and suspect businesses involving funds mobilisation from gullible public," said RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan while inaugurating the Conference of the Chief Secretaries/Finance Secretaries and select Cooperative Secretaries of States.
In his inaugural remarks, the RBI chief stated that while India's macroeconomic parameters have improved, growth was still slow in picking up. Emphasising the importance of fiscal consolidation in terms of both, quantitative and qualitative dimensions, he added that the State Governments would have a critical role in improving the consolidated fiscal performance of the government sector as a whole.
Rajan highlighted the need for improvement in governance structure, capitalisation and resolution mechanism in the cooperative banking sector which plays a crucial role in credit flow to disadvantaged groups, especially in rural areas.
He stated that without efficient governance, capital infusion would not benefit the sector, as it would function as a 'leaky-bucket'.
Resolution mechanism
Emphasising the need for prompt corrective action and stronger accountability in the co-operative banking sector, Rajan suggested evolving an effective resolution mechanism, such as the "good bank-bad bank" model in which good parts of the bank could be identified and segregated from the bad and could be dealt with appropriately.
Emphasising the need for prompt corrective action and stronger accountability in the co-operative banking sector, Rajan suggested evolving an effective resolution mechanism, such as the "good bank-bad bank" model in which good parts of the bank could be identified and segregated from the bad and could be dealt with appropriately.
SLCCs in each State were recently reconstituted to monitor unauthorised collection of deposits.
They will be meeting more frequently under the chairmanship of Chief Secretaries/Administrators of the States/Union Territories (UTs) concerned with participation of senior officials of the States and the regulators.
HR Khan, Deputy Governor of RBI, who was also present at the meeting, sensitised the States about the challenges faced in resource raising given the increasing size of borrowings by the Central and State Governments, reduction in the SLR requirement (currently, 21.5 per cent of net demand and time liabilities are to be held in government bonds) and non-diversification of the investor base.
"Despite these challenges, the weighted average spread of borrowings by the State Governments vis-à-vis the Central Government securities of corresponding maturity had come down to 38 basis points last year as against 75 bps in the year before," he pointed out.
Among others present at the conference were RBI Deputy Governors Urjit Patel and SS Mundra, UK Sinha, Chairman, Securities and Exchange Board of India, Harsh Kumar Bhanwala, Chairman, Nabard, the Comptroller General of Accounts, and senior officials of the Ministries of Finance and Corporate Affairs and NITI Aayog.
Surprise! Full convertibility is on its way
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Money-go-round Will it? Won't it? DeiMosz/shutterstock.com
While it appears the RBI is paving the way for capital account convertibility, does it presage boom-time for money-launderers?
The RBI's executive director, G Padmanabhan, is the latest to express the view that India's move towards capital account convertibility (CAC) is inevitable. This follows similar statements expressed by the minister of state for finance, Jayant Sinha, as well as the governor, Raghuram Rajan.
These views surprised many, given the fragile corporate balance sheets, the state of Indian banks, the vulnerability of the currency and the external sector once US starts hiking interest rates, and the threat of black money. While there is no denying that these factors will impede a move towards full CAC in the next couple of years, the RBI and the finance ministry are laying the ground for the long term.
Over the last few years, the building blocks for full CAC have been put in place.
Rules governing exchange traded currency derivatives have been tweaked to encourage greater participation, interest rate futures and offshore rupee bonds have been issued, and an offshore financial centre will soon be set up in the country. It is obvious that the RBI governor knows what he wants. Even in his first speech, Rajan had talked about "internationalisation of the Indian rupee" as one of his goals.
The driving factorsThe reason why the RBI and the finance ministry are pitching for currency convertibility is not difficult to see. India is expected to record among the fastest rates of economic growth in the next two decades. According to data put out by the US department of agriculture, India will be the third largest economy by 2030, at $6.6 trillion, after the US and China. When a country is gearing up for this, full CAC will be one of the driving factors. But we are still years away from complete CAC. So what are the pre-conditions for this change?
Internationalisation of the rupee: Most economies with full CAC have currencies that are used internationally to trade and settle monetary transactions, held not just by residents of the country but by citizens of other nations too.
Internationalisation wards off a steep sell-off in a currency since it is held widely and investors would not want the value of their holding to erode. For instance, China is one of the largest holders of US treasury securities. So China would think twice about dumping dollars, even if it expects the dollar to depreciate, as it would affect the value of its holding of US treasury securities. It is only in the last few years that the rupee is becoming more acceptable as a medium of exchange in transactions involving residents. Making other nationals use the rupee as a medium of exchange will, therefore, take time.
Setting up an IFC: The development of an offshore financial centre helps a currency move towards internationalisation faster. As global companies and investors set up shop in offshore financial centres located within the country, their familiarity and comfort level with the country increases, making them more willing to use it as a medium of exchange. The government has set the ball rolling on this front with the GIFT city being set up in Gujarat. But it will take at least five years before it achieves the scales of other successful IFCs such as Hong Kong or Dubai.
Overseas market for rupee bonds: Rupee bonds issued overseas will also help increase the holding of rupee-linked or rupee-denominated instruments in the hands of overseas investors.
The RBI has taken the first step in setting up this market by allowing Indian companies to raise offshore rupee bonds. Indian Railways has been among the first to queue up. The International Finance Corporation issued 'Masala Bonds' in November 2014 that are linked to the rupee but settled in dollars.
A strong derivative market: The exchange traded currency derivative market has been around since 2008 but it has not grown to a desirable extent thanks to undue restriction on trading in this segment.
A knee-jerk reaction to the currency crisis in 2013, with an increase in trading margins and limiting participation of banks, also dealt a blow to this segment. The RBI has recently allowed FPIs to trade to a limited extent in this segment. The interest rate derivate futures market too is in its nascent stages and will take a few years to really grow and meet its desired objective of acting as an instrument for hedging risk.
Besides these, the black money angle needs to be given considerable attention. CAC will give citizens the freedom to convert their assets to foreign assets at will.
This will be a freeway for money launderers.
Tax probe case: Five Indians in latest Swiss list
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The Hindu File Photo of Industrialist Yash Birla
Berne, May 26:
Industrialist Yash Birla, as also two Mumbai-based individuals behind City Limousines scam, are among five Indian nationals with Swiss bank accounts whose names have been made public in Switzerland's official gazette with regard to ongoing tax probes against them in India.
The other two are Gurjit Singh Kochar, son-in-law of late realty baron Ponty Chadha, and a Delhi-based businesswoman Ritika Sharma.
The names of these five "Indian nationals" have been made public in Switzerland's Federal Gazette with regard to details sought about them by the Indian authorities.
Among these, some details have already been shared by the Swiss Federal Tax Administration (FTA) with India including about Birla and Sharma of Blessings Apparel.
These are in addition to the two other Indians — Sneh Lata Sawhney and Sangita Sawhney — whose names have also been made public in similar manner for being probed by the Indian tax authorities.
In case of Sayed Mohamed Masood, being probed for a major ponzi scheme run from Mumbai through City Limousines, some details were shared by the Swiss authorities in the past. His accounts were also frozen a few years ago following a request from the Enforcement Directorate.
Fresh details about him and about Chaud Kauser Mohamed Masood have been sought by the Indian authorities, as per the notifications published in Switzerland's official gazette.
There was no reply to queries mailed to Birla's office, while repeated calls to Sharma did not elicit any response.
Earlier also, when Birla's name had come out in a leaked HSBC list of Swiss bank accounts, he had declined to comment.
A family representative declined to comment on the notification issued about Kochar, who is believed to be outside India. He is facing probe by the Income Tax Department and other agencies for quite some time.
No contact details were available for comments from Masoods.
Making public these names, the Swiss Federal Tax Administration (FTA) has asked them to file an appeal within 30 days before the Federal Administrative Court if they do not want their details to be shared with the Indian authorities under their 'mutual assistance' treaty on tax matters.
In case of Birla and Ritika Sharma, whose details have been already shared by the Swiss authorities, the notifications also mention their addresses in India, but the information given to India has been withheld from the gazette.
No further details — other than their names and dates of birth — were made public for other "Indian nationals".
Similar is the case for other foreign nationals including the British, Spanish and Russians.
In case of American and Israeli citizens, their full names have been withheld and they have been identified by their initials and dates of birth.
At least 40 such 'final notices' have been published in the Swiss Federal Gazette so far this month, while more such names are expected to be published going forward.
The alleged stashing of wealth by Indians in Swiss banks has been a matter of great debate in India.
The Indian government has been pushing the Swiss authorities for a long time to share information on the suspected tax evaders, while Switzerland has shared some details in cases where India has been able to provide some independent evidence of suspected tax evasion by Indian clients of Swiss banks.
While there was no reply to queries mailed to the FTA spokesperson in this regard, these names are being published in the Swiss Federal Gazette in the backdrop of the Swiss government being flooded with requests on suspected black money hoarders in Swiss banks from various countries including India.
As per these notices, the concerned persons can file an appeal before the Federal Administrative Court within 30 days, while providing the reasons and evidence in their support.
Through these gazette notices, the Swiss FTA is also looking to give the concerned persons an opportunity to resort to legal remedies. These are the persons about whom foreign governments are requesting information.
As per a report in the 'Sonntagszeitung' weekly, the Swiss authorities have been "inundated with requests for assistance" and the nations that wanted to know details about their suspected tax-dodging citizens included "France, Germany, Russia, India and half a dozen other countries".
"Now, the Authority will publish the names of those affected in the Federal Gazette, which is available to everyone on the internet," it said, while adding that those being named may include "well-known personalities".
As per the report, banks do not have much interest in contacting such customers as many no more hold the accounts.
It further said that questions have been raised about requests made by India and Germany being based on stolen data.
The report, however, quoted FTA's Alexandre Dumas as saying, "We are never sure if they are stolen data. However, there is the principle of faith".
Committing full support to India's fight against the black money menace, Switzerland last week had said its Parliament would soon consider changes in laws to look into the possibility of sharing information in cases being probed on the basis of stolen data of Swiss bank accounts.
Switzerland's Economic Affairs Minister Johann Schneider Ammann during his India visit on May 15 said that the Swiss government was sensitive to the fact that the issue of black money was very important for India and needed to be resolved.
"Switzerland has decided to follow international standards, including those framed by OECD, in sharing information and providing assistance to foreign countries probing such cases, but we have to ask our Parliament to make changes in our laws," he said.
Indian Parliament has recently passed a new black money law under which those found to be stashing illicit funds in foreign locations, including Swiss banks, would face strict penal action, including up to ten years in jail and a penalty of 90 per cent of funds in addition to 30 per cent tax levy.
However, a one-time 'compliance window' will be provided before the law comes into force and this would let the persons with foreign assets to come clean by payment of 30 per cent tax and 30 per cent penalty.
(This article was published on May 26, 2015)
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